A ROMAN LAWYER 



JERIJSALEM. 



jFiust century. 



/ 




Wr WS^ STORY. 



[Reprinted from. Blackwood.] 




IjOR.I]SrG-, F»nblisher, 

319 Washington Street, 
BOSTON. 



/^l 







-f6 J-l+T 



A ROMAiN LAWYER IN JERUSALEM. 

FIRST CEXTURY. 

Makcus, abiding in Jerusaleiri, 

Greeting to Caius, his best friend, in Kome ! 

Salve ! these presents will be borne to you 

By Lucius, who is wearied with this place, 

Sated with travel, looks upon the East 

As simply hateful — blazing, barren, bleak, 

And longs again to find himself in Rome. 

After the tumult of its streets, its trains 

Of slaves and clients, and its villas cool 

With marble porticoes beside the sea, 

And friends and banquets, — more tlian all, its games, 

This life seems blank and flat. lie pants to stand 

In its vast circus all alive with heads 

And quivering arms and floating robes, — the air 

Thrilled by the xoiwm^ fremitus of men, — 

The sunlit awning heaving overhead. 



A ROMAN LAWYER 

Swollen and strained against its corded veins, 

And flapping out its hem Avith loud report, — 

Tlie wild beasts roaring from the pit below, — 

The wilder crowd responding from above 

With one long yell that sends the startled blood 

With thrill and sudden flush into the cheeks, — 

A hundred trumpets screaming, — the dull thump 

Of horses galloping across the sand, — 

The clang of scabbards, the sharp clash of steel, — 

Live swords, that whirl a circle of gray fire, — 

Brass helmets flashing 'neatli their streaming hair, — 

A universal tumult, — then a hush 

Worse than the tumult — all eyes straining down 

To the arena's pit — all lips set close — 

All muscles strained, — and then that sudden yell, 

TIahet ! — That's Rome, says Lucius : so it is ! 

That is, 'tis his Rome, — 'tis not yours and mine. 

And yet, great Jupiter here at my side 

He stands with ftice aside as if he saw 

The games he thus describes, and says, " That's life I 

Life ! life I my friend, and this is simply death ! 



IN JERVSyiLEM. 

Ah ! for my Eome I " I jot liis very words 
Just as lie utters them. I hate these games, 
And Lucius knows it, yet he Avill go on, 
And all against my will he stirs my blood ; 
So I suspend my letter for a while. 

A walk has calmed me — I begin again — 

Letting this last page, since it is written, stand. 

Lucius is going ; you will see him soon 

In our great Forum, there with him will walk, 

And hear him rail and rave against the East. 

I stay behind, — for these bare silences, 

These hills that in the sunset melt and burn, 

This proud, stern people, these dead seas and lakes, 

These sombre cedars, this intense still sky, 

To me o'erwearied with Life's din and strain, 

Are grateful as the solemn blank of night 

After the fierce day's irritant excess ; 

Besides, a deep, absorbing interest 

Detains me here, fills up my mind, and sways 

My inmost thoughts, — has got as 'twere a gripe 

Upon my very life, as strange as new. 

I scarcely know how well to speak of this. 



A nOMAlSr LAWYER 

Eearing your raillery at best, — at worst 
Even your contempt; yet, spite of all, I speak. 

First, do not deem me to have lost my head, 
Sun-struck, as that man Paulus -was at Rome. 
No, I am sane as ever, and my pulse 
Beats even, Avith no fever in my blood. 
And yet I half incline to think his words, 
Wild as they were, were not entirely wild. 
Nay, shall I dare avow it? I half tend. 
Here in this place, surrounded by these men, — 
Despite the jeering natural at first, 
And then the pressure of my life-long thought 
Trained up against it, — to excuse his faith, 
And half admit the Christus he thinks God 
Is, at the least, a most mysterious man. 
Bear with me if I now avow so much ; 
"When next we meet I will expose my mind, 
But now the subject I must scarcely touch. 

How many a time, while sauntering up and down 
The Forum's space, or pausing 'neath the shade 



IN JERUSALEM. 

Of some grand temple, arch, or portico, 
Have we discussed some knotty point of law, 
Some curious case, whose contradicting facts 
Looked Janus-faced to innocence and guilt. 
I see you now arresting me, to note 
Witli quiet fervor and uplifted hand 
Some subtle view or fact by me o'erlooked, 
And urging me, who always strain my point 
(Being too much, I know, a partisan). 
To pause, and press not to the issue so. 
But more apart, with less impetuous zeal, 
Survey as from an upper floor the facts. 

I need you now to rein me in, too quick 
To ride a whim beyond the term of Truth, 
For here a case comes up to which in vain 
I seek the clue : you could clear up my mind; 
But you are absent — so I send these notes. 

The case is of one Judas, Simon's son, 
Iscariot called — a Jew — and one of those 
Who followed Christus, held by some a god, 



A nOMAK LAWYER 

But deemed by others to have preached and taught 
A superstition vile, of Avhicli one point 
"Was worship of an ass ; but this is false ! 
Judas, liis follower, all the sect declare, 
Bought by a bribe of thirty silver coins, 
Basely betrayed his master unto death. 
The question is, — Did Judas, doing this, 
Act from base motives and commit a crime ? 
Or, all things taken carefully in view, 
Can he be justified in Avhat he did? 

Here on the spot, surrounded by the men 

Who acted in the drama, I have sought 

To study out this strange and tragic case. 

Man> are dead, as Herod, Caiaphas, 

And also Pilate, — a most worthy man, 

Under whose rule, but all without his fault, 

And, as I fancy, all against his will, 

Christus was crucified. This I regret : 

His words with me would have the greatest weight : 

But Lysias still is living, an old man. 

The chief of the Centurions, whose report 



JxV JERUSALEM. 

Is to be trusted, as he saw and beard, 

Not once, bnt many a time and oft, tbis man. 

His look and bearing, Lysias thus describes : — 

*' Tall, slender, not erect, a little bent; 

Brows arched and dark ; a high- ridged lofty head ; 

Thin temples, veined and delicate ; large eyes, 

Sad, very serious, seeming as it were 

To look beyond you, and whene'er he spoke 

Illumined by an inner lamping light, — 

At times, too, gleaming with a strange wild fire 

When taunted by the rabble in the streets ; 

A Jewish face, complexion pale but dark ; 

Thin, high-art nostrils, quivering constantly; 

Long nose, full lips, hands tapering, full of veins ; 

His movements nervous : as he walked he seemed 

Scarcely to heed the persons whom he passed, 

And for the most part gazed upon the ground. 

"As for his followers, I kncAv them all — 
A strange, mad'set, and full of fancies wild — 
John, Peter, James — and Judas, best of all — 
All seemed to me good men without offence, — 



10 A ROMAN LAWYER 

A little crazed, — but who is Avholly sane ? 
They -went about and cured tlie sick and halt, 
And gave away their money to the poor. 
And all their talk was charity and peace. 
If Christus thought and said he was a god, 
'Twas harmless madness, not deserving death. 
What most aroused the wcaltliy Eabbis' rage 
Was that he set the poor against the rich, 
And cried that rich men all would go to hell, 
And, worst of all, roundly denounced the priests, 
With all their rich phylacteries and robes, — 
Said they were hypocrites who made long prayers. 
And robbed poor widows and devoured their means, 
And were at best but whited sepulchres : 
And this it was that brought him to the Cross. 

" Those who went with him and believed in him 
Were mostly dull, uneducated men, 
Simple and honest, dazed by what he did. 
And misconceiving every word he said. 
He led them with him in a spellbound awe, 
And all his cures they called miraculous. 



JJV JERUSALEM. 11 

They followed him like sheep where'er he Avcnt, 
With feelings mixed of wonder, fear, and love. 
Yes ! I suppose they loved him, though they fled 
Stricken with fear when we arrested him." 

"What ! all — all fled? " I asked. " Did none remain ? " 

*' Not one," he said, " all left him to his fats. 
Not one dared own he was a follower ; 
Not one gave witness for him of them all. 
Stop ! When I say not one of tliem, I mean 
No one hut Judas, — Judas, whom they call 
The traitor, — who betrayed him to his death. 
He rushed into the council-hall and cried, 
' 'Tis I have sinned — Christus is innocent.'" 

And here I come to Avhat of all I've heard 
Most touched me, — I for tliis my letter write. 
Paulus, you know, had only for this man, 
This Judas, Avords of scorn and bitter hate. 
Mark now the diflerent view that Lysias took! 
When, urged by me, his story thus he told : — 



12 A nOMAX LAWYER 

" Sonic say that Judas was a base, vile man, 

Who sold his master for the meanest bribe ; 

Others again insist he was most right, 

Giving to justice one who merely sought 

To overthrow the Church, subvert the law. 

And on its ruins build himself a throne. 

I, knowing Judas — and none better knew — 

I, caring nought for Christus more than him, 

But hating lies, the simple truth will tell. 

No man can say I ever told a lie ; 

I am too old now to begin. Besides, 

The truth is truth, and let tlic truth be told. 

Judas, I say, alone of all the men 

Who followed Christus, thought that he was God. 

Some feared him for his power of miracles ; 

Some Avcrc attracted by a sort of spell ; 

Some followed him to hear his sweet, clear voice, 

And gentle speaking, hearing with their ears, 

And knowing not the sense of what he said ; 

But one alone believed he was the Lord, 

The true Messiah of the Jews. That one 

Was Judas, — he alone of all the crowd. 



IN^ JERUSALEM. 13 

** He to betray his master for a bribe ! 

He last of all. I say this friend of mine 

"Was brave when all the rest were cowards there. 

*' His was a noble nature ; frank and bold, 

Almost to rashness bold, yet sensitive, 

Who took his dreams for firm realities ; 

Who once believing, all in all believed ; 

Rushing at obstacles and scorning risk, 

Ready to venture all to gain his end, 

No compromise or subterfuge for him, 

His act went from his thought straight to the butt ; 

Yet with this ardent and impatient mood 

Was joined a visionary mind that took 

Impressions quick and fine, yet deep as life. 

Therefore it was that in this subtle soil 

The master's words took root and grow and flowered. 

He heard, and followed, and obeyed ; his faith 

Was serious, earnest, real — winged to fly; 

He doubted not, like some who walked with him ; 

Desired no first place, as did James and John ; 

Denied him not with Peter : not to him 



14 A nOMjy LAWYER 

His master said, ' Avray ! thou'rt an offence ; 
Get thee behind me, Satan ! ' — not to him, 
* Am I so long with ye who know me not ? ' 
Fixed- as a rock, untempted by desires 
To gain the post of honor when liis Lord 
Should come to rule — chosen from out the midst 
Of six-score men as his apostle — then 
Again selected to the place of trust. 
Unselfish, honest, he among them walked. 

" That he was honest, and was so esteemed. 
Is plain from this, — tlicy chose him out of all 
To bear the common purse, and take and pay. 
John says he was a thief, because he grudged 
The price that for some ointment once was paid, 
And urged 'twere better given to the poor. 
But did not Christus ever for the poor 
Lift up his voice, — ' Give all things to the poor ; 
Sell everything and give all to the poor ! ' 
And Judas, who believed, not made believe, 
Used his own words, and Christus, who excused 
The gift because of love, rebuked him not. 



IN JERUSALEM. 15 

Thief ! ay, he 'twas, this very thief, they chose 
To bear tlie purse and give alms to the poor. 
I, for my part, see nothing wrong in this." 

"But why, if Judas was a man like this, 
Frank, noble, honest," — here I interposed — 
*' Why was it that he thus betrayed his Lord? " 

** This question oft did I revolve," said he, 
"When all the facts were fresh, and oft revolved 
In later days, and with no change of miud; 
And this is my solution of the case : — 

" Daily he heard his master's voice proclaim, 
' I am the Lord ! the Father lives in me ! 
Who knoweth me knows the Eternal God I 
He who believes in me shall never die ! 
No ! he shall see me with my angels come 
With power and glory here upon the earth 
To judge the quick and dead ! Among you here 
Some shall not taste of death before I come 
God's kingdom to establish on the earth I ' 



16 A nOMAN LAWYER 

' ' What meant these words ? They seethed in Judas' soul. 

* Here is my God — Messias, King of kings, 

Christus, the Lord — the Saviour of us all. 

How long shall ho be taunted and reviled, 

And threatened by this crawling scum of men ? 

Oh, Avho shall urge the coming of that day 

When he in majesty shall clothe himself 

And stand before the astounded world its King?' 

Long brooding over this inflamed his soul ; 

And, ever rash in scliemes as wild in thought, 

At last he said, 'No longer will I bear 

This ignominy heaped upon my Lord. 

No man hath power to harm the Almighty One. 

Ay, let men's hand be lifted, then, at once, 

Effulgent like the sun, swift like the sword. 

The jagged lightning flashes from the cloud, 

Shall he be manifest — the living God — 

And prostrate all shall on the earth adore ! ' 

" Such was his thought when at the passover 
The Lord with his disciples met and supped ; 
And Christus saw the trouble in his mind, 



7.V JERUSALEM. 17 

And said, ' Behold, among you here is one 
That shall betray me — he to whom I give 
This sop ; ' and he the sop to Judas gave ; 
And added, ' That thou doest, quickly do ; ' 
And Judas left him, hearing these last words — 
' Now shall the Son of man be glorified.' 

" Ah, yes I his master had divined his thought ; 
His master should be glorified through him. 

" Straight unto me and the high priests he came, 

Filled with this hope, and said, ' Behold me here, 

Judas, a follower of Christus ! — Come ! 

I Vill point out my master whom you seek I ' 

And out at once they sent me with my band ; 

And as we went, I said, rebuking him, 

* How, Judas, is it you who thus betray 

The lord and master whom you love, to death ? ' 

And, smiling, then he answered, ' Fear you not ; 

Do you your duty; take no heed of me.' — 

' Is not this vile ? ' I said ; ' I had not deemed 

Such baseness in you. ' — ' Though it seem so now,' 

2 



18 A nOMAX LAWYER 

Still smiling-, he rcpliecl, ' -wait till the end.' 
Then turning round as to himself he said, 
' XoAY comes the hour that I have prayed to see, — 
The hour of joy to all who know the truth.' 

" ' Is this man mad? ' I thought, and looked at him; 

And, in the darkness creeping swiftly on. 

His face was glowing, almost shone with light; 

And rapt as if in visionary thought 

He walked beside me, gazing at the sky. 

" Passing at last beyond the Cedron brook, 

"We reached a garden on Avhose open gate 

Dark vines were loosely swinging. Here we paused, 

And lifted up our torches, and beheld 

Against the blank white wall a ehadowy group, 

There waiting motionless, without a word : 

A moment, and with raj^id, nervous step 

Judas alone advanced, and, as ho reached 

The tallest figure, lifted quick his head; 

And crying, 'Master! Master!' kissed his cheek. 

We, knowing it Avas Christus, forward pressed. 



7.V JEnV SALEM. 19 

Malclius was at my side, -when suddenly 
A sword flashed out from one among them there, 
And sheared his ear. At once our swords flaslied out, 
But Christus, lifting up his hand, said, ' Peace, 
Sheathe thy sword, Peter — I must drink the cup.' 
And I cried also, 'Peace, and sheathe your sword.?.' 
Then on his arm I placed my hand, and said, 
' In the law's name.' He nothing said, but reached 
His arms out, and we bound his hands with cords. 
Tliis done, I turned, but all the rest had fled, 
And he alone was left to meet his fate. 

" My men I ordered then to take and bear 

Their prisoner to the city ; and at once 

They moved away. I, seeing not our guide, 

Cried, ' Judas ! ' — but no answer; then a groan 

So sad and deep it startled me. I turned, 

And there, against the wall, with ghastly face, 

And eyeballs starting in a frenzied glare, 

As in a fit, lay Judas ; his weak arms 

Hung lifeless down, his mouth half open twitclied. 

His hands were clutched and clenched into his robes, 



20 A ROMAN LAWYER 

And now and then his breast heaved with a gasp. 

Frightened, I dashed some water in his face, 

Spoke to him, lifted him, and rubbed his liands. 

At last the sense came back into his eyes, 

Then with a sudden spasm fled again. 

And to the ground he dropped. I searched him o'er, 

Fearing some mortal Avound, yet none I found. 

Then witli a gasp again the life returned. 

And stayed, but still with strong convulsion twitched. 

' Speak, Judas ! speak ! ' I cried. ' What does this mean ? ' 

No answer ! ' Speak, man ! ' Then at last he groaned : 

' Go, leave me ! leave me, Lysias. my God ! 

"What have I done ? O Cln-istus ! Master, Lord, 

Forgive me, oli, forgive me ! ' Then a cry 

Of agony that pierced me to the heart, 

As grovelling on tlie ground he turned away 

And hid his face, and shuddered in his robes. 

Was this the man whose fiice an hour ago 

Shone with a joy so strange? What means it all? 

Is this a sudden madness ? * Speak ! ' I cried. 

' What means tliis, Judas ? Be a man and speak ! ' 

Yet there he lay, and neither moved nor spoke. 



IX JERUSALEM. 21 

I thought that he had fainted, till at last 

Sudden he turned, and grasped my arm, and cried, 

* Say, Lysias, is tliis true, or am I mad? ' 

' What true ? ' I said. ' True that you seized the Lord ! 

You could not seize him — he is God the Lord ! 

I thought I saw you seize him. Yet I know 

That was impossible, for he is God ! 

And yet you live — you live. He spared you, then. 

Where am I? what has happened? A black cloud 

Came o'er me Avhen you laid your hands on him. 

Where are they all ? Where is he ? Lysias, speak ! * 

" ' Judas, ' I said, ' what folly is all this ? 
Christus my men have bound and borne away ; 
The rest have fled. Eouse now and come with me ! 
My men await me, rouse yourself, and come ! ' 

" Throwing his arms up, in a fit he fell, 
With a loud shriek that pierced the silent night. 
I could not stay, but, calling instant aid, 
We bore him quick to the adjacent house, 
And placing him in kindly charge, I left. 
Joining my men who stayed for me below. 



22 A ROMAN LAWYER 

" Strcaight to the liigli priest's liouse we hurried on, 

And Christus in an inner room we pLaced, 

Set at his dooT a guard, and then came out. 

After a time tliere crept into the hall, 

Where round tlie blazing coals we sat, a man, 

Who in the corner crouched. ' What man are you ? ' 

Cried some one ; and I, turning, looked at him. 

'Twas Peter. ' 'Tis a fellow of that band 

That followed Christus, and believed in him.' — 

' 'Tis false ! ' cried Peter ; — and he cursed and swore 

'I know him not — I never saw the man.' 

But I said nothing. Soon he went away. 

" That night I saAV not Judas. The next day. 

Ghastly, clay- white, a shadow of a man. 

With robes all soiled and torn, and tangled beard. 

Into the chamber where the council sat 

Came feebly staggering: scarce should I have known 

'Twas Judas, with that haggard, blasted face ; 

So had that night's great horror altered him. 

As one all blindly walking in a dream 

He to the table came — against it leaned — 



IN JERUSALEM. 23 

Glared wildly round a while ; — then stretching forth 
From his torn rooes a trembling hand, flung down, 
As if a snake had stung him, a small purse, 
That broke and scattered its Avhite coins about, 
And, with a shrill voice, cried, 'Take back the purse ! 
'Twas not for that foul dross I did the deed — 
'Twas not for that — oh, horror I not for that ! 
But that I did believe he was the Lord ; 
And that he is the Lord I still believe. 
But oh, the sin ! — the sin ! I have betrayed 
The innocent blood, and I am lost ! — am lost ! ' 
So crying, round liis f;ice his robes he threw. 
And blindly rushed away ; and we, aghast. 
Looked round, — and no one for a moment spoke. 

" Seeing that face, I could but fear the end ; 
For death was in it, looking through his eyes. 
Nor could I follow to arrest the fate 
That drove him madly on with scorpion whip. 

''At last the duty of the day was done, 

And night came on. Forth from the gates I went, 

Anxious and pained by many a dubious thought, 



24 A ROMAN LAWYER 

To seek for Judas, and to comfort him. 

The sky was dark with heavy, lowering clouds ; 

A lifeless, stifling air Aveighed on the world : 

A dreadful silence like a nightmare lay 

Crouched on its bosom, waiting, grim and gray, 

In horrible suspense of some dread thing. 

A creeping sense of death, a sickening smell, 

Infected the dull breathing of the wind. 

A thrill of ghosts Avent by me now and then, 

And made my flesh creep as I Avandercd on. 

At last I came to where a cedar stretched 

Its black arms out beneath a dusky rock. 

And, passing through its shadow, all at once 

I started; for against the dubious light 

A dark and lieavy mass, that to and fro 

Swung slowly with its Aveight, before me grcAV. 

A sick, dread sense came OA^er me ; I stopped — 

I could not stir. A cold and clammy SAveat 

Oozed out all over me ; and all my limbs, 

Bending Avith tremulous Aveakncss like a child's, 

Gave Avay beneath me. Then a sense of shame 

Aroused me. I advanced, stretched forth my hand, 



7.V JERUSALEM. 25 

And pushed the shapeless mass ; and at my touch 

It yielding swung — the branch above it creaked — 

And back returning struck against my face. 

A human body ! Was it dead, or not? 

Swiftly my sword I drew and cut it doAvn, 

And on the sand all heavily it dropped. 

I plucked the robes away, exposed the face — 

'Twas Judas, as I feared, cold, stiff, and dead : 

That suffering heart of his had ceased to beat." 

Thus Lysias spoke, and ended. I confess 
This story of poor Judas touched me much. 
"What horrible revulsions must have passed 
Across that spirit in those few last hours ! 
What storms, that tore up life even to its roots ! 
Say what you will — grant all the guilt — and still 
Wliat pangs of dread remorse — what agonies 
Of desperate repentance, all too late. 
In that wild interval between the crime 
And its last sad atonement ! — life, the while, 
Laden with horror all too great to bear, 
And pressing madly on to death's abyss : 



26 A nOMAX LAWYER 

Tills was no common mind that thus coukl feci — 
No vulgar villain sinning for reward I 

Was he a villain lost to sense of shame ? 

Ay, so say John and Peter and the rest ; 

And yet — and yet this tale that Lysias tells 

Weighs with me more the more I ponder it ; 

For thus I put it : Eitlier Judas was, 

As John affirms, a villain and a thief, 

A creature lost to shame and base at heart ; 

Or else, which is the view that Lysias takes, 

He was a rash and visionary man. 

Whose faith was firm, who had no tliought of crime, 

But whom a terrible mistake drove mad. 

Take but John's view, and all to me is blind. 

Call him a villain who, with greed of gain. 

For thirty silver pieces sold his Lord. 

Does not the bribe seem all too small and mean? 

He held the common purse, and, were he thief. 

Had daily power to steal, and lay aside 

A secret and accumulating fund ; 

So doing, he had nothing risked of fame, 



IN JERUSALEM. 27 

While here he braved the scorn of all the world. 
Besides, why chose they for their almoner 
A man so lost to shame, so foul with greed? 
Or why, from some five-score of trusted men, 
Choose him as one apostle among twelve ? 
Or why, if he were known to be so vile, 
(And wlio can hide his baseness at all times ?) 
Keep him in close communion to the last? 
Naught in his previous life, or acts, or words, 
Shows this consummate villain that, full-grown, 
Leaps all at once to such a height of crime. 

Again, how comes it that this wretch, whose heart 
Is cased to shame, flings back the paltry bribe? 
And, when he knows his master is condemned, 
Rushes in horror out to seek his death? 
Whose fingers pointed at him in the crowd? 
Did all men flee his presence till he found 
Life too intolerable ? Nay ; not so ! 
Death came too close upon the heels of crime. 
He had but done what all his tribe deemed just : 
All the great mass — I mean the upper class — 



28 A nOMAX LAWYER 

The Eabbis, all the Pharisees and Priests — 
Ay, and the lower mob as -well who cried, 
" Give us Barabbas ! Christus to the cross I" 
These men were all of them on Judas' side, 
And Judas had done naught against the law. 
Were he this villain, he had but to say, 
" I followed Cliristus till I found at last 
He aimed at power to overthroAv the State. 
I did the duty of an honest man. 
I traitor! — you are traitors who reprove." 
Besides, such villains scorn the world's reproof. 

Or he might say : " You call this act a crime ? 

What crime Avas it to say I know this man ? 

I said no ill of him. If crime there be, 

'Twas yours who doomed him unto death, not mine. 

A villain was he ? So Barabbas was ! 
But did Barabbas go and hang liimself, 
Weary of life, — the murderer and thief ? 
This coarse and vulgar Avay Avill never do. 
Grant him a villain, all his acts must be 
Acts of a villain; if you once admit 



Z.V JERUSALEM. 29 

Keniorse so bitter that it leads to death, 
And dcatli so instant on the heels of crime, 
You grant a spirit sensitive to shame, — 
So sensitive that life can yield no joys 
To counterbalance one bad act ; but then 
A nature such as this, though led astray, 
When greatly tempted is no thorough wretch. 
Was the temptation great? Could such a bribe 
Tempt such a nature to a crime like this ? 
I say, to me it simply seems absurd. 

Peter at least was not so sensitive. 
He cursed and swore, denying that he knew 
Who the man Christus was ; but after all 
He only Avept — he never hanged himself. 

But take the other view that Lysias takes. 
All is at once consistent, clear, complete. 
Pirm in the faith that Christus was his God, 
The great Messiah sent to save the world. 
He, seeking for a sign, — not for himself. 
But to show proof to all that he was God, — 
Conceived this plan, rash if you will, but grand. 



30 A ROM AX LAWYER 

" Thinking him man," he said, " mere mortal man, 
They seek to seize him. I will make pretence 
To take the public bribe and point him out, 
And they shall go, all armed with swords and staves, 
Strong with the power of law, to seize on him, — 
And at their touch he, God himself, shall stand 
Revealed before them, and their swords shall drop, 
And prostrate all before him shall adore, 
And cry, ' Behold the Lord and King of all ! ' " 
But when the soldiers laid their hands on bim. 
And bound him as they would a prisoner vile, 
"With taunts, and mockery, and threats of death — 
He all the while submitting — then his dream 
Burst into fragments with a crash ; aghast 
The Avhole world reeled before him ; the dread truth 
Swooped like a sea upon him, bearing down 
His thoughts in wild confusion. He who dreamed 
To open the gates of glory to hi^ Lord, 
Opened in their stead the prison's jarring door, 
And saw above him his dim dream of Love 
Change to a Fury stained with blood and crime. 
And then a madness seized him, and remorse 
With pangs of torture drove him down to death. 



JiV^ JERUSALEM. 31 

Conceive with me that sad and suffering heart, 

If this be true that L3'sias says — Conceive ! 

Alas ! Orestes, not so sad thy fate. 

For thee Apollo pardoned, purified, — 

Tliy Euries were appeased, thy peace returned ; 

But Judas perished, tortured unto death, 

Unpardoned, unappeased, unpurified. 

And long as Christus shall be known of men 

His name shall bear the brand of infamy, 

The curse of generations still unborn. 

Thus much of him : I leave the question here. 

Touching on naught beyond, for Lucius waits ; 

I hear him fuming in the courts below, 

Cursing his servants and Jerusalem, 

And giving them to the infernal gods. 

The sun is sinking — all thy sky's afire — 

And vale and mountain gloAv like molten ore 

In the intense full splendor of its rays. 

A half-hour hence all will be dull and gray ; 

And Lucius only waits until the shade 

Sweeps down the plain, then mounts and makes his way 



32 A ROMAN LAWYER IN JERUSALEM. 

On through the blinding desert to the sea, 
And thence his galley bears him on to l\ome. 

Salve et vale ! — may good fortune wait 

On you and all your houseliold ! Greet for me 

Titus and Livia — in a word, all friends. 



w. w. s. 



•*tf 



A EOMAi LAfYEE 


'IN 


JERUSALEM: 


First Pentury. 


P.V 

W. W. STORY. 


; [Reprinted from Blackwood.] 


LOI^ITVG^, Pixblisher, 


319 WASHINGTON STREET, 


BOSTON. 



Mrs. Whitriev's ueAV Novel, 

HITHERTO: 

A 

jStory of Yestep^days. 

Rich Cloth. rrive $2. 

T bis is the uuique and half-mysterious title of the truly great 
and good book, frcui tlie pen of 

MRS. A. D. T. WHITNEY, 

Author of • I'aith (rdrttn'i/'s (iirlhofxl ,' The Gaiju'or- 
thf/s.' and ' Fnficmw Stron(/'s (h(tin{/s.' 

We do not hesitate to pronounce '" Hitherto " the best work of 
this much loved author. It embodies, without being dry or ab- 
struse, a truly sublime philosophy of life ; and to those who can 
appreciate its deep, earnest spirit, "Hitherto" will become a house- 
hold book to cheer and encourage the darker days, and. at all 
times, to satisfy the soul with the grandest thought. 

In this beautiful ■• Story of Yesterdays,'' Mrs. Whitney outdoes 
herself. It unites the insight and pure deTotion of "■ Patience 
Strong,'' the nobility of life, and the pathos of " The Gayworthys," 
with the romantic charm of " Faith Gartney." 

The book will tell its own story, find its own cherished place, 
and while away the leisure hours of thousands of readers, who will 
find in its pages happy ilreams from the realm of romance. 



TALES OF EUROPEAN LIFE. 

2s'eat 12 mo. Paper. PHve 50 cts. 

PREFACE. 

Europe has been so thoroughly explored, that 
very little is left for a traveller to describe. 

Her science, statistics, and social relations v^ill 
still atford abundant food for the publications of 
the learned ; while a mere admirer of nature and 
art can scarcely add anything valuable to w^hat 
has been already written. 

I have though^, under these circumstances, that 
a description oi ..^r customs, manners, and monu- 
ments, would be less hackneyed in the form of 
tales than tracts, and have created purely fictitious 
characters to occupy familiar scenes, embodying, 
in this way, the memories of a residence of some 
years. 

I can only hope that the recollections of Italy, 
or the anticipations of seeing a country with which 
America has always generously sympathized, and 
to whom she is so much indebted for improvement 
and pleasure, will lend an attraction to these tales 
entirely independent of their own claim. 



Tifisley^s Magazine says of "A Roman 
Lawyer at Jerusalem — First Century — by W. W. 
Story " :— 

" Perhaps one of the best known of Browning's abstruser poems 
is the Epistle of Karshish, the Arabian physician, telling his 
'strange experiences ' of a case of mania to a brother physician — 
the case being none other than that of Lazarus, whom Karshish 
has encountered at Bethany, and whose tale has assumed a strange 
interest in his mind. This poem has unquestionably suggested to 
Mr. Story the idea, carried out in A Roman Lawyer, of analyzing, 
from a technical point of view, the story of Judas's betrayal of 
Christ. 

" The theory of the betrayal here adopted — the DeQuiucey 
theory — furnishes a sample of that specially modern form of 
humanitariauism, the desire to clear the reputation of an historical 
personage who has been held in alihorrence from time immemorial. 
The position taken up in regard to Iscariot is analogous to that 
adopted by Mr. Lesvis in writing of Nero and Robespierre. The 
incidents of a poem, and especially of a poem dramatic in prin- 
ciple, are set down, not as facts, but as what are to be regarded as 
facts from the point of view adopted in the poem ; so that, in treat- 
ing a theory according to which Judas Iscariot was a most worthy 
individual, Mr. Story has not laid himself open to be attacked as 
one who would ' whitewash ' the proverbial traitor, but has simply 
shown, in the potent manner of psychological art, that the conduct 
of the personage in question admits of a charitable explanation. 
The Roman lawyer betrays lui inclination to believe the account 
given him by Lysias, who figures in the poem as an old friend of 
Judas, and according to whose view the Christ was betrayed by one 
who blundered in attempting to do a great thing. Lysias believes, 
in fact, that Judas, warmly devoted to his master, and fervently 
convinced of his godhead, conceived the idea that if he gave Christ 
into the hands of his enemies, a manifestation of the master's god- 
head must perforce take place, to the inevitable conviction of all 
witnesses ; but that, seeing no such manifestation, and finding 
Christ a prisoner and undone, he learned how fearful a mistake he 
had made, and 'turned, and went and hatiged himself.' This 
position is ably sustained in matter of argument, and there is a 
good deal of fine writing in the poem." 

This Poem appeared in Black ivood's Mag- 
azine for October, 18G8, and, at tlie request of 
many friends, is reprinted in this form. 

The Publisher. 



